Four in Custody, One Injured After Shooting Inside Alabama High School Gym

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange and Police Chief Ernest Finely confirmed to WSFA 12 News on Wednesday that the suspects taken into custody range from 14 to 18 years old. All of the suspects are students at Lee High School.

By Jessica Davis

February 28, 2019

Four people have been arrested after a shooting took place inside the gym of Montgomery’s Robert E. Lee High School, according to police and city officials. The 17-year-old victim was treated at an area hospital and released to recover at home.

A student was shot in the gym just before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. The school was immediately placed on lockdown, and the scene was responded to by Montgomery Police Department, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the FBI.

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange and Police Chief Ernest Finely confirmed to WSFA 12 News on Wednesday that the suspects taken into custody range from 14 to 18 years old. All of the suspects are students at Lee High School.

Finely said three of the suspects will be charged with making terroristic threats and possession of a weapon on school property and that video surveillance showed the teens inside the school with guns in their pockets. The shooting suspect is also in custody and will be charged with attempted murder.

Questions remain as to how students brought guns onto the campus. Lee High School has metal detectors at the front of the school but also has multiple entrances, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

Strange is calling for a better security plan for Montgomery Public Schools, as well as a review of school security by experts. Guards were present at every door on Wednesday.